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  He turned his head to look out at the crowd, and a spotlight made the gray in his hair turn silvery. “All of you in this room will study the cornerstones of the PAC. You’ll learn about the governments of PAC member-planets and trade allies. You’ll learn governmental policies and procedures. Interspecies relations. And the regular complement of sciences, technologies, and mathematics. And you’ll learn your specialties, too. Languages, medicine, piloting, engineering, database and file management, and diplomacy, to mention just a few. Regardless of your long-term goals, your education here will be the bedrock of the rest of your life.”

  Emiko smiled. Finally, her life was beginning. She’d been in a holding pattern until this very moment.

  “So, welcome to the academy. You’ll make friendships here that will last your entire life. You’ll learn things that you will always remember. And if you work hard, you just might become great.”

  He said this last with a tilt of his head that elicited a laugh from the students. Not that it was a great joke, but everyone there wanted to become great and the possibility struck home.

  Emiko sat through introductions to the prominent members of the faculty, but she was only taking notes for future reference. It mattered little to her what these people said. What mattered was how well they taught and how much they knew. Some weren’t professors she’d ever take classes with, anyway.

  The rest of the speeches were motivational, cautionary, and otherwise meant for people who weren’t Emiko. She didn’t need all that. She already knew what she needed to do. It was just a matter of the details involved with getting it done.

  She slipped out near the end, when the auxiliary services department was explaining the medical and mental health care offered, and that students shouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of those options.

  Other than possibly getting injured during physical training, she wouldn’t be needing those services. She was healthy and had her head on straight.

  As she took a circuitous route back to her dorm, she decided that her first mission as an academy student was to appear to be one of them. Fitting in would be her cover identity. Emiko Arashi would be well-rounded, friendly, and not stick out.

  Just a regular sixteen-year-old studying hard.

  As part of the yearly kickoff, the academy hosted a clubs and activities mixer on the quad. Emiko had been on campus for three days, and with classes not starting for another week, she was glad for something to focus her energy on.

  She wasn’t much of a joiner, and expected to spend most of her time studying, but Val and Jane bubbled with excitement at the opportunity of joining campus life. Therefore, Emiko put on her just-like-everyone-else face and went with them to see what campus life had to offer. Just like a typical student would.

  “Check out the guy at the holo-vid club,” Jane hissed under her breath so the student in question wouldn’t hear her. “With the yellow shirt.”

  Casually, Val and Emiko looked. He was cute, with curly brown hair that hung over his forehead and smiling brown eyes.

  “Is he Zerellian?” Val asked. “I have a hard time telling Zerellian humans and Earth humans apart.”

  “Wow,” Emiko said, her voice full of surprise. “That’s a really species-ist thing to say.”

  Val’s dark eyes widened in a stricken expression. “It is? I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean it as a bad thing. Just that I’m still too ignorant to distinguish. Please accept my apologies. The deficiency is entirely mine.”

  She bowed at the waist, deeply enough to convey respect and repentance.

  Jane and Emiko laughed.

  “She’s kidding,” Jane said. “We often can’t tell the difference either. A person’s accent or clothing style can give clues, but we usually just have to guess.”

  “Sorry.” Emiko grinned. “I couldn’t resist the chance to tease you.”

  Val laughed. “I should probably be mad, but I’m just glad I didn’t say something insulting. I see I’m going to have to be careful around you.”

  Val shook an admonishing finger at Emiko, chuckling.

  Emiko had never been known for teasing or joking, but she supposed that would give her a more easygoing persona, compared to the reputation of a no-nonsense, serious student she had back home.

  It would be more fun, too, and more likely to attract friends.

  “Let’s go check it out,” Jane said, her eyes still on the curly haired guy. “I love holo-vids. It would be fun to watch them with big groups of other students.”

  “You go ahead,” Val answered. “I want to check out the archery club.”

  “You don’t do archery.” Jane looked puzzled.

  “I know, but I’ve always been interested. Maybe I could learn. I don’t watch many holo-vids.” She smiled apologetically.

  “Okay.” Jane looked to Emiko as Val strode away. “You like holo-vids, right?”

  “Definitely.” As far as Emiko was concerned, a holo-vid club seemed like an easy way to take part in something without having to expend much time or effort. And she loved a good action vid.

  The curly haired guy lit up when they approached, and he launched into an enthusiastic explanation of the kinds of movies the club watched, how often they met up, and so forth. He included Emiko in the conversation, though it was clear that he was far more interested in Jane.

  After a few minutes, Emiko started to feel superfluous. She excused herself to do some looking around.

  “Will you come watch with us next week?” the guy asked.

  “Sure, if Jane does,” Emiko agreed. Judging by Jane’s rapt expression, she was pretty sure that they’d be in attendance.

  She walked among the tables that had been set up to advertise the fun of outdoor sports groups or the learning experiences of the various clubs. Nothing in particular drew her attention, but it was nice to see her classmates interacting casually. She felt like she had more in common with these people than she ever had with people her own age back home. She saw a light in them. A determination to succeed, mixed up with ambition and hope for the future. It reminded her of herself.

  The realization made her optimistic. Maybe fitting in wouldn’t require great effort. Maybe she could relax, be herself, and actually enjoy things.

  A loud noise behind her caused her to spin around with her fists up and drop her body into a fighting stance. She searched the gathering, looking for a threat, then saw that someone had dropped a large wooden board on top of another. Some sort of game setup, from the look of it.

  She let her hands drop and adopted a casual posture. Everyone else had been startled as well, and no one seemed to have noticed her reaction.

  She’d have to work on that.

  As she moved on, she reminded herself not to take the safety of campus life for granted. She had to keep her guard up. Not so much that she seemed strange, but fitting in couldn’t distract her from long-term goals.

  She’d have to work on finding a balance between the two, as well.

  Classes hadn’t even started, and she already had a lot to work on.

  Emiko spotted Val near the language club table and dodged around a few people to join her.

  “Do you like languages?” Emiko asked.

  Val nodded. “I’m fluent in Standard and Bennite, but I’d like to learn more. I will, in classes, but it would be helpful to have people to practice with. Do you speak anything besides Standard?”

  “No,” Emiko lied. “My parents didn’t even speak Japanese at home.”

  “That’s a shame,” Val said, her eyes full of kindness and understanding. “But lots of people only speak Standard. And you can always learn if you want to.”

  Emiko nodded. “I’ve always meant to give it a try, but haven’t found the time.”

  In truth, she spoke six languages as fluently as a native, and was actively learning more. That ability didn’t fit with her cover identity, though, so she would keep it a secret.

  “Did you find any activities that sounded fun to you?” Val
asked brightly. She seemed to have a mothering quality that Emiko found endearing.

  “Jane and I are going to try out the holo-vid club. I also noticed a food club that learns about and tries foods from planets in the PAC zone. That sounds really interesting.” Emiko figured that, in her future travels, she’d have to rely a great deal on whatever a planet happened to offer. She’d be well-served to know about those cuisines. Plus, any club that was all about eating good food sounded great to her.

  “That does sound neat,” Val agreed. “Let’s go take a look.”

  When the holo-vid club’s first meeting rolled around, Emiko and Jane enjoyed a showing of a classic detective vid. When the dining club met, she and Val learned about Kanaran food. The outings were simple and fun, and cemented her relationship with her two new friends. She appreciated their positive attitudes and thoughtfulness. Considering how differently the roommate situation could have gone, Emiko had gotten extremely lucky.

  Not so with her neighbors on the other side of the hall, who’d turned out to be argumentative and spiteful. Once classes began, Emiko quickly learned how to avoid crossing paths with them.

  As she dug into the coursework, she worked at striking the right balance between the obsessive study that came naturally to her and maintaining her cover identity. She didn’t always succeed. Sometimes she did too much of one, only to overcompensate by doing too much of the other.

  The academy took schoolwork to a new level, even for her. In spite of the difficulty it posed in maintaining a normal social life, she reveled in the rigorous classes and the competition her classmates provided. She’d definitely gone from being a standout in a small place to being one of many achievers in a large place. She loved the change.

  Though not a math major, as a pilot, she had to take a great deal of math and physics to understand the nature of spaceflight. She wished she’d get some flying time in the near future, but first she’d have to work through flight theory, mechanics, and endless hours in simulators.

  One thing at a time.

  After two months of study, she felt entirely at home, having settled into a comfortable, though, challenging routine.

  She was, by all of her own measures, doing great.

  She hadn’t made it to all the holo-vid club meetings, but the fifth one featured an action vid she wanted to see. It wasn’t new, but she’d never gotten around to watching it, and since she hadn’t attended the last meeting, this one would be perfect for her. She’d consider it her reward for getting the top mark on her first academy math exam. There was always another exam around the corner, though, so she spent her afternoon studying.

  Jane’s knock at the door of Emiko’s dorm surprised her. Three hours had passed already? Emiko put her infoboard aside, grabbed her hooded sweatshirt, and greeted her friend.

  “Ready for some action?” Jane asked.

  Emiko pulled the sweatshirt over her head, knocking her ponytail askew. She pulled it loose, then regathered it neatly. “Yes, but be careful. Someone overhearing that might get the wrong idea.”

  Jane laughed and bumped her with an elbow as they set off for the Campbell Hall, which had a large seating area and the setup to accommodate group viewings.

  They exchanged some waves with people who had arrived before them, and took seats near a few people they’d become friendly with in the club. Shortly thereafter, the lights dimmed and the vid started.

  Emiko enjoyed the movie, the snacks, and the hour of discussion that always followed a showing. By the time she got back to her dorm, she was tired but happy. The next day would be busy, and a little recreation time was a good way to hone her focus.

  Her bedtime routine had become that of a shower, brushing her teeth, and falling into bed, exhausted. There never seemed to be enough hours in the day, but the fatigue served her well by ensuring that she never suffered from insomnia.

  Emiko awoke blind and unable to move.

  Stifling her confusion and panic, she used her senses to discover what she could. Pressure on her stomach and chest made breathing difficult and she became lightheaded. The air around her was hot and muggy. A small, regular motion rocked her slightly from beneath, back and forth.

  Her head was either inside a bag or wrapped up in a blanket. Possibly her whole body had been, as well. Flexing her fingers, she felt taut fabric. Too taut to be a bag. When she tightened her grip, she felt the give of someone else’s flesh.

  Okay, she was being carried over someone’s shoulder with a bag over her head. She wasn’t being handled roughly, though it was hard to breathe and she had a shoulder crammed into her stomach. Each passing moment increased the discomfort, and every footstep her abductor took caused a slight jarring that increased the ache in her stomach. There was nothing she could do at the moment, though. She’d have to conserve her strength for when she had an opportunity to fight.

  What felt like several minutes later, strong arms swung her down and set her upright in a chair. A touch around her neck warned her what was coming just a moment before a shaft of light pierced her optic nerve, blinding her.

  Squinting and taking deep breaths of fresh air as her eyes adjusted, she looked for her abductor.

  Her captor must have slipped out the door while she was unable to see. She hadn’t heard anything.

  She was alone in a room empty of anything but the chair she sat in. Her eyes were adjusting, and she examined every detail around her.

  Escape would be impossible, she was certain. But gathering information about her surroundings was all she could do. She examined the door and found it to have a locking mechanism she couldn’t get past.

  She ran her hands over each of the four walls, tapping them in places to determine their depth and strength. Then she pried up a piece of loose tile to examine the subflooring. Concrete. No help there.

  Fine. She’d wait. She returned to the chair.

  She had no way of knowing how much time had gone by, but she’d have guessed that the better part of an hour passed before the door opened.

  She remained seated as a tall human walked in wearing nondescript black pants and a shirt.

  He was thirtyish with dark, streaky blond hair pulled back in a tiny ponytail. He was good-looking enough to be interesting, but not to the extent that his looks were a defining characteristic for him.

  “Do you know who I am?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Do you know why you’re here?”

  Again, she said, “No.”

  “What if I said you had to fight me to get out of this room?”

  “I’d say let’s go.” She stayed where she was.

  He grinned, looking rakish and roguish and everything else that landed just short of debauchery. It made her want to like him, in spite of her circumstances.

  “Hi, Emiko. I’m Ross Whelkin, and I’ll be your hand-to-hand combat teacher.”

  “Do you always introduce yourself this way?” She fought not to let the extent of her annoyance and anxiety show, but her heart still hadn’t settled down to a normal pace.

  He laughed. “Only with brand-new recruits who think they want to get into the game of spies and assassins. Change your mind yet?”

  “No”

  He leaned casually against the door. “You’ve been remarkably calm. Maybe you’ll be one of the ones that are good at faking. But why don’t you tell me what you think this is all about?”

  “You should have roughed me up a little if you wanted me to think I was in a life-or-death situation. You were too gentle. And you should have taken me out of the building. I’d guess we’re in the service basement of my dorm, because the acoustics around us never changed, and neither did the smell.”

  He nodded. “So you knew it was a test, then?”

  “Yes. I’m not important enough for anyone to bother kidnapping, and a PAC campus would be a tremendously poor choice of place to grab a nobody, given the likelihood of being seen or caught on surveillance.”

  “Then you’ve just passed
your first test.”

  “What’s the success rate of this test?” she asked.

  “Classified. Maybe someday you’ll earn your clearance.”

  “Okay. So what now?”

  He shrugged. “Now you can go back to your dorm and get some sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll begin your combat training. We’ll start with an assessment of your current skills.”

  She stood. “We’re both here. Why wait?”

  “This isn’t the right place for that.”

  “If you’d like to lead the way, sir, I’ll follow.”

  He gave her a long, hard look, then grinned. “You’re on. Let’s go.”

  An hour later, Emiko was sweaty, sore, and riding a wave of adrenaline. Ross Whelkin had slammed her to the mat a dozen times, but each time, she’d learned something new. This was nothing like the training she’d done before, or participating in competitions for trophies and ribbons.

  “That’s enough,” he finally said, and they bowed to each other. “Have a seat.”

  She brushed a loose strand of hair from her forehead as she did so.

  “You have excellent skills for your age. In competition and sparring, no doubt, you’d be among the best students here. However, these private lessons are not about winning titles or medals. They’re about incapacitating or killing, and not getting yourself killed. You have a lot to learn. Competition fighting and the real thing only have the very basics in common.”

  She bowed her head in acknowledgement.

  “The general curriculum combat classes are about to begin, and you’ll be attending to maintain your cover. You’re scheduled for my afternoon class.”

  “Should I hide my skill level?” she asked.

  “No. But don’t mention titles you’ve won, as that’s something people could look into. I’m guessing you’ve won regional titles. Probably more. Am I right?”

  Was he pretending he hadn’t seen her entire life’s history laid out in her records, or had he simply not cared enough to note her accomplishments?

  Or did he just want her to think that?